Postgame Quotes

Opening comments:
"It was good to come out and pleasing to play so well. Ball State is making some excellent improvement. I think Pete [Lembo] has done a great job there, and they will continue to get better. Our guys are very aware that as we move forward, there's going to be a lot bigger challenges out there. We still wanted to play in a good way and smart, the way we are capable of. I felt like we did in all parts of the game. Overall, we still, as coaches, feel there is a lot that can be much better and the players realize it. So, the exciting part is there's a lot that's good, but we can still do some things better. We are going to work on that this week. I sense in the locker room, of course, there isn't anyone jumping up and down. Already, there's a lot of anticipation for next week. We've got a lot of work to keep pushing and building on this team to get better play. I know the guys are anxious to come back next week and try to polish some things up."

On Tony Jefferson's play:
"He's an excellent athlete, which he demonstrated out there tonight. He has a knack for the ball. He had a huge night."

On Tony Jefferson getting interceptions in three straight possessions:
"I didn't put together that it was three straight possessions, we were just kind of working through the game. That's pretty amazing. Tony is a great player. I don't need to tell you that."

On wide receiver Ryan Broyles' play:
"He's really special. The guy is just amazing. His body control, footwork, hands are just always so sure. The guys just a great player. That's all you can say about it. He just continues to be so competitive and make plays."

On leaving Travis Lewis on the field with second team:
"He only practices on Thursday. He convinced not me, but Coach Venables, 'Coach, I need some conditioning before next week.' He misses all week. He stands there, goes through his reads and stuff, but at the end of the day, he's not able to get a lot of work. So, he's just trying to build back up. I wasn't pleased about it. I was actually complaining about it the series or two before, but I see what he's saying. He doesn't practice all week. He wants to stay sharp. He wants to stay conditioned."

On freshman running back Brandon Williams' first action:
"He was impressive. I thought Brandon (Williams) did a very good job and executed well, looked fast. I don't think he saw that first laser coming at him, almost hit him in the head. He's young and he's just got to keep playing, keep getting better."

On preparing for Texas:
"I feel good that we've made good progress. I feel good that the players aren't overly joyed about anything. They know there is more to come and they are anticipating that. They know we need to keep getting better in some areas. I feel they are in a good spot. They are always excited about this game, everybody is. So, they'll work hard this week to get ready for it."

Co-Offensive Coordinator Josh Heupel

On the offensive play for the night:
"This week was about us getting one week better. Going out and performing the way we are capable of, which means you have to steer the right way. In some areas we did that and some we didn't. We get a good game in here and we move onto the next one."

On Dominique Whaley:
"Our guys made plays when they had the opportunity and we had some big positives tonight. Dominique Whaley has played very consistent. We believe in him and trust in him. All of these guys are going to need a play a big part in what we are doing and moving forward though."

On the offense:
"Landry Jones didn't really get hit a lot tonight. I thought the offensive line did a good job of protecting Landry. We had some young players really step up like Brandon Williams. He did really well at protecting the ball and Roy Finch also played well and stepped up when we needed him to."

"Our quarterback did a good job of making smart decisions tonight. Ultimately, we as an offense need to get out there and make explosive plays on the field. We need to be smart. These are all things we are working on

On Kenny Stills and Jaz Reynolds:
"He's [Kenny Stills] a special player. He is really competitive. He has the ability to make some big offensive plays because of his speed. Really some positive things from Jaz Reynolds also. It is really great to see him taking this opportunity and really taking advantage of it."

Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables

On the defensive play for the night:
"It was more about us than who we are lining up against. I thought our guys played with better focus and discipline. They were physical and played smart. They anticipated what was coming. The batted balls were huge. We thought there would be some balls for the guys to take advantage of and Coach (Jackie) Shipp did a good job of preparing our defense for that."

On Tony Jefferson's interceptions:
"It was really pretty crazy. It was a chapter in itself. He should have had four interceptions. He has a real knack for the ball, we all know that and he has good anticipation. That is why he is so valuable up close. That position gets a lot of opportunities. It takes the right guy to capitalize on those situations and Tony is a ball magnet."

This week's play compared to last week's play:
"I am just pleased with the way the defense is playing. We are not beating our chest. We've seen a lot of good defenses around here and we are trying to keep there perspective around here. Before the ball was ever snapped we weren't giving ourselves a chance. We had a humble attitude. It was a stressful week. Our players recognized that we didn't play the game that we were capable of last week. We can lose focus really easily, but our job as coaches is to keep them on edge. I am pleased with our focus this week. It was a much better effort, we made improvement and there is still improvement to be made."

On Texas:
"This couldn't have come at a better time. Going down to Texas next week. We are ready for it. We are excited about it and I know Texas will be looking forward to it also. It's a fabulous atmosphere to play college football in."

Senior WR Ryan Broyles

On becoming the Big 12's all-time leading receiver:
"It feels good. Hard work pays off. Playing with great athletes doesn't hurt either. It was too surreal. I got a little emotional. I had people that never thought I would be in this position in my life. I just kept chipping away, chipping away and it definitely paid off."

On if breaking the Big 12 record at home was special:
"Yeah, so the fans could enjoy it. Without them we wouldn't be who we are. I love to give back to the fans, it was great to get that done here."

On the deep throws against Ball State:
"That's just the offense we play in. Consistent. We try to keep the ball on the ground. When teams take that away, we can go deep too."

On his journey to this point:
"I always felt like I was a competitive player, a good player. I definitely had my family and close friends behind me, who believed in me. That whole up-and-down thing, that is all in the past. I kept chipping away and playing ball and things kept working out for me."

Sophomore DB Tony Jefferson

On his three interceptions:
"Two of them I have to give up to my line by batting those balls down. I gave them their props but I was just in the right spot at the right time. I appreciate my lineman like I said and it was fun having three picks today."

On how special this game was to him:
"It's real special. It boosts your confidence and especially going into a game like we are going into next week is definitely a confidence builder."
On the defensive play tonight:
"We played real hard. We had a chip on our shoulder coming off of last week. We didn't play very good. They just ran right through us, passing and throwing. Our defense practiced really hard this week. We knew what we had to do and came out and did it."

On if he requested to stay in the game until the end:
"No, it is not anything I requested. It's just what the coaches did. Moving guys around and trying guys different places. I just ended up being in there for a while."
On the importance of this game leading into the game with Texas:
"It is very important. Like I said, it's a confidence."

Junior QB Landry Jones

On tonight's offensive output:
"We executed really well on offense. The offensive line kept me clean and did a great job all night. We ran the ball pretty efficiently. Dom (Dominique Whaley) did a good job for us. Brandon Williams came in too and did a really good job. The receivers did a great job. We threw it around pretty good tonight. Obviously, there are some things we still need to work on, but executing and the way we came out and played was pretty clean."

On the big passing plays:
"On that dig to Jaz (Reynolds), he came across the field and I hit him in stride with a pretty good ball. He made a good catch and he did the rest. Perimeter blocking and helping out Jaz on that big play right there. He took it across the field and did a good job. Then that throw to Ryan (Broyles) was just kind of a post where the safety got down a little bit and Ryan took it over the top of him. I put it out there for him, he made a good catch and out ran that guy to the end zone."

On Ryan Broyles becoming the Big 12 reception leader:
"You can't say enough about him. The way he plays and prepares during practice. He comes out everyday and is consistent by being the guy we need him to be in this offense. He did a great job tonight catching balls. It is just nice to see someone like that get that record for someone that really deserves it."

On how excited he is to prepare and play Texas next week:
"I'm extremely excited. This is one of the bigger games of the year. Obviously, it's a fun week for us. I think everybody is excited for that game and everybody is ready to go out there and start preparing for them."

Senior LB Travis Lewis

On OU/Texas:
"Not a lot of talking. That game is more about mutual respect. I just like to fly around and hit people in that game. I am never quiet. Don't get me wrong. But, I think in that week it's a little less talk and a little bit more playing."

On the defensive performance after last week:
"Oh big time. It was huge. After last weekend I felt like I was 2-1. To come out here and play like this, leading up to Texas, this is huge."

On staying in the game:
"I told (Stoops) 'don't take me out,' but they ended up taking me out. I wanted to get my conditioning up. Obviously, I can play every snap but I felt like the more reps wouldn't hurt me."

Sophomore WR Jaz Reynolds

On leading the team in receiving yards:
"I didn't know I lead the team, but it is a good feeling I beat out Ryan (Broyles). Ryan usually gets the most yards and touchdowns. I had my first touchdown today and that was a good feeling."

On if he thought he would make it to the end zone on his big catch:
"Right when I got past the last guy I looked up and was like `50 more yards.' He got me, but I got him back on my touchdown."

On the statement they made tonight leading up to the Texas game:
"I think we had more of a passing game threat. We tried to be more balanced and not just depend on the pass more. Today we passed the ball well and ran well."

Junior RB Dominique Whaley

On his performance:
"I thought I did pretty well. I had a couple busted assignments out there. But, I did pick up my blocks and I blocked pretty well in pass protection so I thought it was a pretty good night"

On OU/Texas:
"Everybody is usually excited. I am just ready and treat it like another game. Prepare during practice and go onto our next opponent. You have to learn to stay calm. If not you might get too worked up and do something you're not supposed to do out there. I usually try to treat them all the same."

On Brandon Williams:
"He did excellent for being out there for the first time. I told him to be patient and that it will come. Don't try to do too much. He's a very fast and physical runner. I see a good future for him."

Head Coach Pete Lembo

Opening comments:
"First of all congratulations to Oklahoma, they have a fine football team. I am sure they are going to continue to go on and have a very successful season. I thought our guys played hard tonight and gave a great effort. We turned the ball over multiple times in the first half and that made it extremely difficult. We gave up a lot of big plays. Some were mismatches others were coverage breakdowns by us that we could have executed better. We had some guys in the secondary leave the game because the injuries were forcing other guys into action. Those guys actually played pretty well and I was pleased with Eric Patterson. I thought he played pretty physical in the second half. He made a number of tackles at the boundary corner position. Brian Jones, backup safety, redshirt freshman also played significantly in the second half of the game and did some good things as well. Obviously I am disappointed with the results and disappointed with the score but we will go back and look at the film. I am sure there will be some positive things we can take from the film."

On the number of turnovers:
"We talk about it all the time, when you go into any game, whether it's against Oklahoma or Buffalo or anybody else, if you turn it over you are not going to win. In our three wins we didn't turn it over at all. In our two losses, now we have turned it over seven times. Regardless of who you are playing that is probably the most important statistic in football."

Sophomore QB Keith Wenning

On the pressure of the Sooner defense:
"They were a big and fast team. We knew we were going to have to hold up the line to make things happen. So I give credit to them. Our offensive line did everything they could, tried to give me as much time as they could. They got to me a couple of times and batted a couple of the balls, and that's how interceptions happen."

On his mental preparation this year:
"I'm definitely not the same person I was last year. I feel like I have a better mental aspect going into this year, trying to forget about the last year. It's always in the back of your mind when you go out there, but you can't let that affect you. And I don't know if it affected me tonight or not, but I've worked harder than last year."

Senior S Kyle Hoke

On if they expected that performance from OU:
"Like Coach (Lembo) said, they didn't do anything special. We knew they were going to go fast. We knew what they liked to do when they went fast. The (OU) defense just executed. You have to block off, you have to tackle."

On moving on after a hard loss:
"I wouldn't say it's different from any other game. You have to move on. Once that game is done, it's done. You have to move on to the next one. That's kind of the routine that we're in right now."

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